


The Other Firebender

by old_and_new_friends



Series: Mako's Lovers [9]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Injury Recovery, Insecurity, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Relationship Negotiation, Relationship Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:48:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29335569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/old_and_new_friends/pseuds/old_and_new_friends
Summary: Mako's insecurities grow as it appears that Asami and Iroh II are getting closer. Fearful that he's losing his girlfriend, Mako doesn't realize he's growing closer to the General too.
Relationships: Iroh II/Asami Sato, Iroh II/Mako (Avatar), Mako/Asami Sato, Mako/Asami Sato/Iroh II
Series: Mako's Lovers [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095230
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	The Other Firebender

**Author's Note:**

> IDK man, I blame [orange_panic_archive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orange_panic_archive) for why I ship this OT3, because I love the way the write Irosami and I love Makroh. Then for some damn reason I decided I liked Masami, so I put the three relationship dynamics together and it turned out really cute and I am not done with this dynamic even if I am done with it in this series. They are just so soft with each other.
> 
> This can be read alone or as a four years later sequel to [Truth Wills Out](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29020980) which is a Masami what-if story.

Mako wouldn’t consider himself very self-assured in most situations. One place he did always feel self-assured, was in his relationship with Asami.

They had a rocky start and an even rockier re-start, but things had settled into a nice equilibrium. Mako had ultimately turned down Chief Beifong’s promotion which felt shallow after his stay in prison. 

Instead, he turned his attention to helping his girlfriend rebuild her company, while also helping Korra, who he had managed to retain a friendship with, take down the occasional wannabe dictators that cropped up here and there.

The latest, Kuvira, had nearly destroyed the city and Mako was laid up in bed with an injured arm. It had made him feel a bit useless as Asami continued on with her company while Mako hid away in their bedroom, occasionally being allowed access to his accounting paperwork.

Asami was a brilliant engineer, but the woman had very little concept of money. It wasn’t a good combination for a business to stay afloat, as Asami often tried to spend more than she had room to. Factories and employees didn’t pay themselves and while Asami’s humanitarian efforts were amazing, she didn’t have nearly as much money as she thought she did sometimes, as most of it was tied up in the business.

They had become a quite formidable duo over the years and Mako couldn’t be prouder of his girlfriend as he watched the city thrive under her inventions and charity programs.

With all that had been going right for them, he had been debating if now might not be the right time to take that next step in their lives.

There was only one problem.

A certain General of the United Forces. Prince Iroh the Younger.

Mako liked the guy. He was funny once he lost the stick stuck up his ass, and also very kind. He had, somehow, become a very frequent visitor to their home and had been quickly sucked into their small, but growing, friend group.

Mako knew the guy was honorable, but that didn’t make him feel less like competition. Particularly when his humor made Asami laugh and his kindness made her smile.

He wasn’t a fool. Iroh was also very attractive.

If the feelings building in Mako’s chest were what Asami had felt back when Mako had broken up with her to date Korra, Mako finally understood just why she had been so mad at him.

Mako couldn’t personally build up the anger, as Mako himself often fell sway to Iroh’s charms. Instead, he just worried.

Asami meant the world to Mako, and losing her might actually destroy him at this point. More than anything he wanted her to be happy, he was just scared it would be with someone else.

“Mako?” Asami called, as she walked into their apartment. 

Mako didn’t like how big Asami’s mansion was, or the fact that he couldn’t ever escape his newly discovered extended family. Asami didn’t like the echoes of her father there. So, they had decided a while back to live somewhere else.

“Bedroom,” Mako called. “I’ll be right there.”

Mako needed out of this bed. His energy had been low since his injury, and he was tired more often than not but he felt like he was going crazy pinned to the bed. He felt even crazier when he walked into the living area to find Iroh sprawled out over their sofa.

“Hey, Mako,” Iroh said, standing to move over to the dining table. “Asami invited me for dinner.”

“I hope that’s okay,” Asami said. “I didn’t have a way to call.”

“It’s fine,” Mako said, even if he didn’t quite believe it. It wasn’t like he could send Iroh packing now.

“Sorry, it was short notice,” Iroh said, smiling softly up at him. “I was talking to Asami and the conversation drifted into something best spoken about between all three of us.”

Mako froze at that, before lowering himself down into his seat. Asami placed the takeout cartons on the table before joining them.

“What do you mean?” Mako asked, once she sat down.

“Mako, Iroh and I have something to tell you,” Asami said. “We’ve all kind of been dancing around this subject for months and I think it’s time we talked about it.”

Mako closed his eyes as his heart sank, before opening them to face reality.

“You’re breaking up with me?” Mako asked, glancing between the two with resignation. Mako didn’t need to do the math to realized Iroh was the better catch.

Asami blinked at him. “No?” Asami said. “Why would you think that?”

Mako sighed. “Don’t treat me like I’m stupid,” Mako said. “I’ve seen the two of you flirt with each other and you’ve been spending a lot of time together both here and outside the house.”

“Well, yeah, but so have you. You and Iroh have spent every Friday he’s off together goofing around here,” Asami said, looking concerned. “I thought we were on the same page but apparently not.”

Iroh looked between the two with a very flushed face. “I think I should go,” Iroh said, weakly. “I have apparently been misreading this situation. I’ll leave you two be.”

“Wait,” Asami said, grabbing his arm. “Let’s just figure out where everyone is at and try and meet somewhere. Clearly Mako thought one thing and Iroh and I another.”

Iroh plopped back down in his seat. He looked suddenly uncomfortable, whereas only a second ago he had looked as if he lived here, too. Mako wondered at that. When had Iroh become so comfortable in their home? When had Mako become so comfortable with him being in their home all the time?

“Mako,” Asami said, “what’s going on in your head?”

“I thought,” Mako said. “Look, Iroh’s our friend, and I trust him, but well, I’ve been a bit worried you might prefer dating him to me. I know I haven’t been doing much with my arm down but I thought, I don’t know.”

Mako trailed off oddly as he noticed the look on Iroh’s face. The other man looked hurt, as if something Mako said upset him.

“Mako, I don’t want to break up with you,” Asami said. “I don’t ever want to break up with you. I love you, but well, Iroh why don’t you explain what’s been going on in your head, then.”

Iroh shook his head as he stared out the window. “Iroh?” Asami asked again, prompting him to speak. She used the tone she often used on Mako to force a confession out of him. He wasn’t sure why he was surprised that it worked on Iroh as well.

“I thought,” Iroh said, licking his lips nervously. “I thought you liked me. I thought you both liked me and that maybe you’d be interested in possibly expanding your relationship to include one more. I just, I spend most of my time here and with the two of you and you’ve both become really important to me. I thought you were flirting with me, like Asami does. I know at first it was just joking but I felt like it was shifting to something more serious. I really like the two of you and Asami seemed to think it would work. I didn’t realize that I was reading you wrong, Mako. I’m sorry.”

Iroh never took his eyes from the window as he spoke, but Mako could hear the distress in his voice.

“Oh,” Mako said, looking over at Asami.

“That’s what we wanted to talk about Mako,” Asami said, softly. “I’m sorry, too. I just, thought the same as Iroh. You seemed like you meshed well with him and I knew you found him attractive. You said as much when I asked. I could have sworn you were flirting with him the other day too. I guess we both misread the situation.”

“Please understand, Mako,” Iroh said, finally looking at him. “I won’t interfere with your and Asami’s relationship. You two are good together and I just want you both to be happy. I don’t want this to ruin our friendship but I understand if it does. I was simply mistaken but I can leave now if you want me too.”

Iroh looked like he wanted nothing more than for an excuse to leave the room. His face was burning and his eyes were watering slightly. He looked extremely discomforted.

Mako wasn’t going to let him leave though. They needed to talk about this, and Mako, now that he knew what was going on, wanted to talk about it.

“So, you don’t want to break up with me to date Iroh?” Mako asked Asami, trying to clarify.

Asami shook her head. “No,” Asami said. “I like Iroh, believe me I do, but I’m not throwing away a four-year relationship for him.”

Mako looked over at Iroh and felt a pang at the pain on the other man’s face. Iroh had thought they both wanted to date him and now he had basically heard them both say otherwise.

Mako thought back, wondering slightly at what it was Asami and Iroh were seeing in his behavior that Mako had missed. He liked Iroh, but was it more than what he thought?

Mako knew he wasn’t the best at reading his emotions and had a tendency to push down feelings that weren’t needed. Had he missed something so crucial as his own growing affections for the General?

He flushed slightly as he realized that, yes, he had been genuinely flirting with Iroh. He hadn’t noticed it, but he had been teasing and pushing at the other man in the same way he had done with Asami. In fact, Mako was startled to notice, as he looked over at Iroh, that even now he was leaning into the man’s space.

“You want to date both of us?” Mako asked, slightly mystified by the idea of Iroh wanting to date them both over just Asami. Mako wasn’t the easiest person to get along with.

Iroh nodded mechanically, as if it pained him to admit such a thing, now that he assumed Mako didn’t like him.

“Okay, I think I’ve read this situation wrong,” Makos said. “I guess I let my insecurity get away from me.”

“No, Mako,” Asami said, “we should have been more careful and upfront about what we wanted. It’s just, Iroh wasn’t sure we’d be okay with it, so he sat on the information for a while.”

Mako sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I am okay with it though,” Mako said, looking up at the other two. “I just got mixed up.”

“I think we all did,” Iroh said. “It’s fine if you two would rather keep your relationship to yourselves. I won’t be upset, or well too upset with it.”

Mako didn’t like that answer. “No, I, can we start over?” He asked, desperately. “Just, forget the misunderstanding happened and start again with a clean slate?”

Iroh glanced over at him hopefully. Asami smiled slightly.

“Yeah, we can,” Asami said, standing from the table only to sit back down. “Mako, this is Iroh, he wants to date both of us, so I invited him over for dinner to get your opinion.”

Mako snorted slightly. “He’s cute, let’s keep him,” he said, smiling over at Iroh.

Iroh’s face flushed for an entirely different reason as Mako and Asami turned towards him.

“Um, hi?” Iroh said, looking between the other two.

“Yeah,” Asami said, “I don’t think he’ll survive without us at this point. He’s become a bit reliant.”

Iroh made an odd noise in the back of his throat. “I am not,” Iroh said.

“Iroh, you said so yourself that you spend most of your time here,” Mako replied, realizing as he said it how true his words were. “You practically live here now. The only thing you don’t do here is sleep.”

“No, he slept here two weeks ago, remember?” Asami said. “In our bed, too. With us in it.”

“See,” Mako said, gesturing to Iroh. Though the reminder had him feeling slightly dumb. He’d let Iroh sleep in the same bed as him and his girlfriend and only now realized he might like him as a bit more than a friend.

Iroh went to object again, but Mako cut him off with a kiss before he could think too much about the action. Iroh melted into the kiss. Mako pulled away and smirked slightly at Iroh’s shocked expression. Asami seemed just as amused.

Iroh cleared his throat and sat back in his seat. “You make a completing argument,” he said.

“Glad you see it my way, General,” Mako said.

Asami dropped an amused kiss on the corner of Iroh’s lips. It left a smudge of lipstick behind.

“Surrender, Soldier,” Asami joked.

Iroh sighed. “I regret all of the decisions that have led me here, but somehow I know if given a re-do I’d do them all over again,” Iroh said.

“Good,” Mako said.

He felt silly for his worries before as Asami pulled him and Iroh towards the sofa. They settled with Mako leaning into Iroh’s side as Asami sat across their laps. She pressed a soft kiss to Mako’s chin and smiled up at him.

Mako rubbed his thumb across her cheek feeling himself settle back into the comforting assurance he always felt with her, only now it was twice as comforting as Iroh’s arm settled over his shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> Next Weeks fic will be a Makorra fix-it for the first break up scene.


End file.
